Obama Says 'Justice Has Been Served' in Chelsea Manning Case

President Barack Obama defended commuting the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning during his final news conference of his administration.

The commutation of Manning was announced Tuesday prompting questions about what will happen to other people who leak government information.

"I feel very comfortable that justice has been served and that a message has still been sent that when it comes to our national security," Obama said today. "That wherever possible, we need folks who may have legitimate concerns about the actions of government or their superiors or the agencies in which they work that they try to work through the established channels."

"Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence," Obama said. "So the notion that the average person who was thinking about disclosing vital classified information would think that it goes unpunished, I don't think would get that impression from the sentence that Chelsea Manning has served."

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 and she will now be released on May 17. Her lawyer released a statement after the announcement that her sentence was commuted saying that her time in prison included "long stretches of solitary confinement -- including for attempting suicide."

Obama was asked about a tweet from Wikileaks which said that if Manning was granted clemency, founder Julian Assange apparently offered to be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. "despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case."

"I don't pay attention to Mr. Assange's tweets," aObama said. "And I refer you to the Justice department for any criminal investigations, indictments, extradition issues that may come up with him."

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from ABC News: Politics http://ift.tt/2iS7tSi

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